The Paris Assizes Court sentenced Dahbia Benkired to incompressible life imprisonment for the rape, acts of torture, and murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet. The crime, which occurred on October 14, 2022, in the 19th arrondissement, was described as a true ordeal due to its extreme cruelty. The victim's family expressed relief mixed with pain at this rare decision.
On October 24, 2025, after a week-long trial and four hours of deliberations, the Paris Assizes Court found Dahbia Benkired, a 27-year-old Algerian national, guilty of rape, acts of torture and barbarity, and the murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet. The defendant, who was subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), was sentenced to incompressible life imprisonment, along with a permanent ban from France. This penalty, the harshest in the French Penal Code since 1994, prevents any sentence adjustment before 30 years and was imposed due to the 'extreme cruelty' of the crime and the accused's psychopathic personality, characterized by coldness, impulsivity, and high recidivism risk, as per psychiatric experts.
The crime took place on October 14, 2022, in an apartment in Paris's 19th arrondissement. Dahbia Benkired lured Lola, who was returning from school, into her home where she held her captive for 1 hour and 37 minutes, raping her, torturing her with blows and wounds to the back, before asphyxiating her with tape. The autopsy revealed a two-to-three-minute agony from asphyxiation, accompanied by intense physical suffering. The accused cited rage toward her ex-partner Mustapha as motive, stating: 'All the hate I had inside me I unleashed on her.' She denied penetrations but admitted the murder and a bucco-genital act.
Lola's family, shattered – her father died of a heart attack on February 23, 2024 – testified to her playful joy and their inexpressible pain. Outside the courtroom, brother Thibault Daviet said: 'We have restored my sister's memory.' Mother Delphine Daviet-Ropital, in tears, hugged her son. Defense lawyer Me Alexandre Valois stated no appeal decision had been made yet. Political figures like Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella praised the justice's firmness while criticizing OQTF ineffectiveness, noting Benkired 'should never have been on French soil'.
